NBA Stars Trailblazing In Europe In 2011

Blazers players overseas

There is no good news from the NBA front these days, as recently it was reported that the players will not report to their teams at the usual time and preseason NBA games have already been cancelled. There will be more cancellations soon if a new labor deal is not struck.

The NBA has put training camps on hold and 43 preseason games have already been cancelled. NBA training camps were slated to begin on October 3rd and all of the preseason games from October 9th to the 15th have been cancelled.

On top of that it does not look good that the NBA preseason will start anytime soon with the two sides very far apart on reaching a labor agreement.

Recently there was not much hope coming from the league commissioner David Stern, as he was recently asked if it were possible to save the season with h

The NBA Lockout is sending Blazers overseas to play ball

ow far along negotiations are and he stated, “I don’t have any response to that. I just don’t. I don’t know the answer.”

With the regular season in jeopardy many players have already signed deals with teams overseas and a few players for the Portland Trailblazers have already inked deals. Here are some of those players, with their stats from last season, and this list may grow if no labor deal is made soon.

SF Nicolas Batum 12.4 ppg 4.5 rpg – Batum signed a 1-year deal with SLUC Nancy in France’s top league

SG Jon Diebler – Rookie – the 51st pick of the Blazers has signed a 1-year deal with Panionios of Greece.

PG Patrick Mills 5.5 ppg 1.7 apg – Mills is a native Australian and has signed a deal with the Melbourne Tigers in Australia’s National Basketball League. He turned down more lucrative offers from European clubs so he could play Down Under.

Star PF LaMarcus Aldridge, who was totally robbed of an All Star spot last season has not signed a deal to play overseas yet, but has expressed interest in playing across the pond in the NBA season does not happen. When asked about his interest in signing for another club the Blazers’ star said, “I’ve thought about it; it’s a possibility. My agency is looking into it.”